


Mächtiger als das Wort

by Daegaer



Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: Assassins, Friendship, M/M, Psychic Abilities, Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-05-13
Updated: 2006-05-13
Packaged: 2017-10-23 04:06:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/246117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daegaer/pseuds/Daegaer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Schuldig is a pissed-off travel companion. Spoilers for the Schwarz Drama CDs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mächtiger als das Wort

"I can't believe you shot Silvia," Schuldig grumbled. He glared around him at the inoffensive countryside. "Can we get out of the land of my goddamned birth now? I've got hay fever." He mustered up a sneeze that didn't sound too fake.

"We'll pick up some antihistamines," Crawford said. "We'll leave Germany when I've decided where we're going."

"Yes, _sir_ , Mr Crawford, sir," Schuldig muttered in impotent fury, gritting his teeth. "I still can't believe you shot her."

"She was dangerous," Nagi said, as if he were explaining something to a very small child. "She was only pretending she wanted to be friendly, Schuldig. Her team mates were dead, she was desperate." He wasn't intimidated in the slightest by the glare that was diverted from the countryside to him. Schuldig looked out the window again, sulking. There was never any point in trying to bully Nagi.

"I'm not _stupid_ ," he said at last. The other two exchanged a brief sidelong glance, and Schuldig clenched his fists. He wanted to break someone and he wasn't sure why. "How come I'm sitting in the back? Stop the damn car, Brad. Swop seats, Nagi."

"You said you wanted the space to get some sleep," Nagi said peaceably.

"We're on the autobahn," Crawford added. "We'll get off at the next exit and stop in the next town. We should find somewhere to stay for the night."

Schuldig settled down and closed his eyes in annoyance. Right then he hated everything.

 _I_ really _can't believe you shot her._

"Shut up, Schuldig."

 

* * *

 

"We should empty Nagi's mini-bar too," Schuldig said, peering into the one in their hotel room.

"You're right," Crawford said. "At approximately 11.30 he'll decide we're too occupied to disturb him and will get drunk, maudlin and destructive."

"Kids these days," Schuldig said, shaking his head in mock-disbelief. "A teenager sneaking booze, who'd ever have thought it?"

"You excuse yourself and break into his room while we're at dinner and take out everything except the soft drinks and one can of beer," Crawford said. "He might get inventive if he finds nothing."

"Great, I get to brave the booby-traps," Schuldig grumbled. "Why precisely is he going to get drunk tonight?"

"It'll be _tonight_ because we'll be too occupied to disturb him," Crawford said, a little smile on his lips. "As for _why_ \- you're the telepath, you tell me."

Schuldig rolled his eyes and headed down to the restaurant. Halfway through dinner he left in the direction of the toilets, doubled round, ran at top speed up the stairs thereby reaching their floor before the lift could even have been summoned and, after a few seconds' thought, went through his and Crawford's room, out their window and hopped across to Nagi's window ledge. The tripwire inside was easy to spot if you knew Nagi, so he spent another two seconds making sure he knew where the second one was. Then he opened the window, jumped over the wires to a spot of floor he was relatively sure was clear, shook his head over the quickly-constructed incendiary device attached to the door and emptied the mini-bar as instructed. By the time he got back to the restaurant he felt he'd more than earned his keep.

"What do you think Farfarello's doing?" Nagi said, poking at his dessert.

"I'm sure he's all right," Crawford said as Schuldig said,

"It doesn't bear thinking about. _Psychos in Love_ , coming soon to a cinema near you!"

Nagi gave him a dirty look. "Don't talk like that. Just because you're jealous of him finding a nice girl --"

"Jealous! Who wants a nice girl anyway?"

"I can't believe," Nagi said in a merciless impersonation of Schuldig's accent, "that you shot Silvia!"

"Shut up."

"Silviiiiiiaaaaaaa! Nooooooooo!"

 _I should have left the drink_ , Schuldig thought at Crawford. _Maybe he'd die of alcohol poisoning._ Crawford's amusement was of no consolation.

 

* * *

 

"I _can't_ believe you shot her," Schuldig said later, with Crawford wrapped around him, sleepily content.

"Go to sleep."

"I can't," Schuldig said, rolling over and staring at the wall. There was a light right outside their window, and the curtains didn't keep the room dark enough. It was just another annoyance.

"What's wrong with you? You've been sulking since we dealt with Farblos." Crawford sounded annoyed as he sat up.

"I can't believe you _slept_ with her," Schuldig said. "I mean, since when do you even like girls?"

"Ah," Crawford said smugly. "Nagi was right: jealousy." He lay down again. "It was something to do at the time. Besides, she _really_ wanted me - it seemed impolite to refuse." Schuldig could hear the self-satisfied smile in his voice, not to mention the self-satisfied glow in his mind. "You shouldn't worry, I don't compare her to you."

"Bastard! That's not --" He shut up and closed his eyes. "I'm going to sleep."

"That's not what?"

"I'm asleep."

"Fine. That whole two weeks Silvia and I barely got out of bed. That woman had some staying power. But you know that already, right? Maybe we should have had a screw for old time's sake before I shot her."

Schuldig decided that getting out of bed was preferable to punching Crawford in the face. Only losers hit short-sighted morons in the dark when they weren't wearing their glasses. Especially if the short-sighted morons were clairvoyant, good at boxing and had a harder punch than he did.

"Look," he said as Crawford made a puzzled protest, "I'm not saying you weren't right to kill an enemy. I just wish we hadn't had to fight them and you hadn't been put in that situation."

"It was no big deal," Crawford said, sounding as confused as Crawford ever let anyone hear. "It didn't distress me in the slightest." He paused. "Why is it distressing you?"

Schuldig turned away. He could feel Crawford looking at him. He could feel Crawford's puzzlement shading into something that was half-irritation, half-concern. He had a disconcerting flash of what he looked like from Crawford's point of view, standing there in the dark. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"She was nice to me," Schuldig said unwillingly. "When I was being trained. It was a -- reward, I guess. It's hard to see things as they really are when you're a kid; the thought that a beautiful older woman liked me kept me going in some bad times when I was in Rosenkreuz. I guess I built it up in my mind till I was assigned to Schwarz." He sighed. "She really was fond of me. And I liked her a lot." Crawford was keeping quiet. That was good. It was embarrassing enough to have said any of that aloud without having Crawford comment on it. Schuldig looked over at the wall so he didn't have to deal with seeing Crawford squinting at him in the dim light. "Nagi's almost finished that beer," he said. "He's alternating sips of beer and Coke to make it last. He's feeling lonely and wondering if he made the right choice in not running off with that crazy girl when he had the chance. What with Farfarello running off with that freak witch and you and I cuddled up in here he's deep in the teenage worries that he'll die alone and be eaten by cats. Or possibly by cannibal demons from beyond time and space - he really can't hold his drink."

"You always think you can divert me with jokes," Crawford said.

"If it's not working I can break into a song-and-dance routine too."

"I'm glad she helped you when you needed her," Crawford said carefully after a minute's silence. "I'm glad you're the kind of person who can retain such emotions and yet not let them interfere with necessary actions. I had no such feelings towards her, nor she towards me, I'm sure. I'm not apologising - it would have been insanity to leave her alive - but I'm glad you were professional then, and I'm glad you were a pissy little bitch in the car, and if I had to shoot her a hundred times just so you'd be around to be pissed with me I'd do it."

Schuldig thought about that, then got back into bed. Crawford and he had been pulling each other's asses out of the fire for years, for far longer than he'd ever seen Silvia's smile directed at him, and actions spoke louder than words. It wasn't bad hearing actual words from Crawford, though. It wasn't bad at all.

"Fair enough," he said, and fell asleep almost immediately.

 

* * *

 

" _Good_ morning," Schuldig sang loudly as they got into the car. "Do you have a hangover?"

"No," Nagi said in a sour tone as Schuldig claimed the front seat. "Next time I'll trap the mini-bar too."

"Don't look at me like that. The wind will change and your face will be stuck that way. Come on, cheer up, I'm in a good mood so everyone should be in a good mood."

"Right," Nagi said. "You keep telling yourself that."

"I've been thinking about what you said," Schuldig went on. "You know, 'Fighting for your friends is _right!_ '" He dropped the terrible Japanese accent and twisted round to grin cheerfully. "I agree with you."

"Is he making fun of me?" Nagi demanded.

"Probably," Crawford said, slowing to exactly the speed limit just before they came within sensor range of a speed camera. "I wouldn't take it personally."

"You were great in fighting Farblos," Schuldig said. "I mean that, Schwarz couldn't have survived without you as a team mate." Nagi looked cautiously pleased. Schuldig surreptitiously passed him two miniatures of vodka. "You're a good friend to have," he said. Nagi didn't smile, not precisely, but some of the dissatisfied expression lifted from his face.

"You know, with Amlisch and his team dead we might stand a chance at hitting Rosenkreuz hard," Schuldig mused. "What do you say, o team of mine?"

"I say screw it, let's go to Italy, we need a holiday," Crawford said. "We're independent agents now and I for one am not killing anyone unless there's a healthy pay packet or a good laugh to be had."

"Yeah. Like we need Eszett to want us dead even more," Nagi chided. "Are Italian girls easy?" he whispered to Schuldig.

"When I'm around, _everyone's_ easy," Schuldig grinned.

Nagi sat back, looking satisfied. Schuldig slipped his sunglasses off his head and onto his nose as Crawford turned the car south.

It wasn't a feeling he expected to last forever, but right now there wasn't a damn thing wrong with his world.


End file.
